Eye on Extremism
September 20, 2019
The
New York Times: Man Trained By Hezbollah Scouted Times Square As
Target, Prosecutors Say
“A New Jersey man trained in bomb-making and intelligence-gathering
by Hezbollah spent years scouting sites like Times Square and New
York’s airports, tunnels and bridges for how to do the most harm in an
attack, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. The man, Alexei Saab,
42, of Morristown, was charged with various terrorism-related crimes
in a nine-count indictment unsealed in Manhattan. A United States
citizen since 2008, he was also charged with participating in a sham
marriage to help an unnamed co-conspirator obtain citizenship. In
announcing the indictment, Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States
attorney in Manhattan, said that despite Mr. Saab’s citizenship
status, “his true allegiance was to Hezbollah.” Mr. Saab, who was
arrested in July, is being held in the Metropolitan Correctional
Center in Manhattan, according to federal prison records. An
arraignment had not yet been scheduled, and he has not entered a plea.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”
CBS
News: CBS News Goes Inside Syrian Refugee Camp Filled With ISIS
Supporters
“A sprawling refugee camp in northeast Syria is described as a
breeding ground for ISIS and a ticking time bomb. A few hundred U.S.
allies guard the Al-Hol camp, where the strict laws of ISIS are
followed. The guards call the Syrian refugee camp the “Islamic State”
because while they control the fence, inside, they said, ISIS is in
charge. Ten thousand foreigners live there. They are wives and
children of accused ISIS fighters. The men are mostly dead or in
prison. CBS News went inside and met women who wouldn't say where they
come from, but sound British, and they defended ISIS terror attacks in
Europe and the U.S. “This is ISIS ideology, an eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth. That's what it is,” one woman said. When there's
violence here, and there have apparently been several murders, it's
almost impossible to find the perpetrators, because all of the women
are covered. In an ISIS propaganda video, women send a message from
the camp. We're a ticking bomb, one says, just you wait and see. In
another video, young boys chant that they'll crush the heads of
non-believers. There are no real schools there, but one guard said the
entire camp is effectively an ISIS academy. Many women said they're
repentant.”
The
New York Times: Trump’s National Security Aides Refining Possible Iran
Options
“Senior national security officials from across the government met
on Thursday to refine a list of potential targets to strike in Iran,
should President Trump order a military retaliation for missile and
drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil fields last weekend, officials
said. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr.,
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are to present the updated
options to Mr. Trump at a National Security Council meeting scheduled
for Friday, a senior American official said. In advance of being
presented with the newest set of options, Mr. Trump has sent different
signals on his intentions. He has threatened to order “the ultimate
option” of a strike on Iran to punish the nation for its behavior, but
also has made clear his continued opposition to ordering the United
States into another war in the Middle East.”
Reuters:
Islamic State Claims Attack In Burkina That Killed 24
Soldiers
“Islamic State claimed responsibility for one of the deadliest
attacks against the Burkina Faso military in recent months, the SITE
website that tracks militant attacks reported on Thursday. The attack
took place on Aug. 20 in Koutougou, in the country’s northern Soum
province. Militants killed 24 Burkinabe soldiers and injured seven
others. A statement from Islamic State quoted by SITE attributed the
attack to the group’s West Africa branch. Once one of the region’s
most peaceful countries, Burkina Faso has suffered a spillover of
Islamist violence from its neighbors and large swathes of the
country’s north are now out of control. Deteriorating security
prompted the Ouagadougou government to declare in December a state of
emergency in several northern provinces bordering Mali, including
Soum.”
BBC
News: Fastest-Growing UK Terror Threat 'From
Far-Right'
“The fastest-growing terror threat in the UK comes from far-right
extremism, police have said. Neil Basu, the UK head of
counter-terrorism, said seven of the 22 plots foiled since March 2017
have been linked to the ideology. He said far-right terrorism had gone
from 6% of the caseload two years ago to 10% today, adding: “It's
small but it's my fastest-growing problem.” But, he said, the biggest
threat still came from jihadists. Mr Basu, Assistant Commissioner for
the Metropolitan Police, said some of the right-wing plots they
disrupted were “designed to kill people” - and methods mimicked those
seen in jihadist attacks, with some even using Islamic State
materials. Speaking at a briefing on Thursday, Mr Basu said about 10%
of around 800 live terror investigations were linked to right-wing
extremism. Children as young as 14 have been involved in extremist
activity, the briefing was told. He also said the government's
terrorism-prevention programme, Prevent, which aims to stop people
being radicalised, has seen referrals nearly doubling since 2015/16 to
18%. “Despite the increases, right-wing terrorism remains a relatively
small percentage of our overall demand, but when nearly a third of the
plots foiled by police and security services since 2017 relate to
right-wing ideology, it lays bare why we are taking this so
seriously,” he said.”
Express:
Neo-Nazi Group In Threat To Kill One Of Britain's Top Police Officers
- Exclusive
“The group has reportedly called for the deaths of European
Parliament politician Guy Verhofstadt and YouTube chief executive
officer Susan Wojcicki. Joshua Fisher-Birch, a research analyst at the
Counter Extremism Project in New York, said: "This is a small group,
but they have a very radical ideology. Even among the extreme right,
it can be hard for them to find recruits. They want a race war. They
want to commit terrorist attacks. This is different from other groups.
They have an 'accelerationist' ideology. They think they need to bring
this about, they think it is their duty."
United States
The
Washington Post: New Jersey Man Charged With Scouting Terrorist
Targets In Manhattan For Hezbollah
“A New Jersey man has been indicted on charges that he secretly
worked for the terrorist group Hezbollah, scouting potential targets
in New York, including Grand Central Terminal, the New York Stock
Exchange and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Charges were announced
Thursday against Alexei Saab, 42, and the FBI said he had been part of
Hezbollah for more than 20 years. He also tried to kill a man in
Lebanon under orders from one of his instructors, but the gun didn’t
fire, authorities said. Court papers filed in Saab’s case also show
that U.S. officials have gotten significant cooperation from a former
member of Saab’s group who was arrested in 2017 and has since pleaded
guilty. Authorities charge that Saab was part of the Islamic Jihad
Organization, described as a wing of Hezbollah tasked with “the
planning and coordination of intelligence, counterintelligence, and
terrorist activities.” Officials said Saab was arrested in July,
following several months of FBI interviews in which he allegedly made
admissions about his work for Hezbollah. A lawyer for Saab could not
immediately be identified. Court papers say Saab admitted he had been
recruited into Hezbollah as a college student and had received
explosives and military training from the group.”
Fox
News: American Airlines Mechanic Shared ‘Disturbing’ ISIS Videos, Told
Agents He Had ‘Evil Side,’ Prosecutors Say
“An American Airlines mechanic accused of sabotaging a plane in
July reportedly told arresting agents he had an “evil side,” a
nefarious persona prosecutors sought to expose Wednesday as they
presented alleged evidence of his Islamist sympathies -- and
aspirations -- at a bail hearing in Miami. Prosecutors said
Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani allegedly displayed support for ISIS
by making statements about wishing Allah would use “divine powers” to
harm non-Muslims and sharing ISIS videos on his cellphone -- which he
allowed the FBI to search. One of the videos showed a person being
shot in the head, according to prosecutors. Federal investigators said
they also learned that Alani lied about taking a trip to Iraq in March
to visit his brother and also sent $700 to someone in Iraq. Alani
allegedly told an American Airlines co-worker in June his brother was
kidnapped and became a member of the terrorist organization. Alani,
60, worked as a mechanic for the airline when he allegedly sabotaged a
Nassau-bound Boeing 737 with 150 passengers and crew aboard at Miami
International Airport over stalled labor negotiations. Prosecutors
said Alani glued styrofoam inside the nose of the aircraft that
disabled a part used to gauge airspeed and other critical flight
data.”
The
Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Weighs Sending More Military Assets To
Mideast
“The Pentagon is considering sending additional antimissile
batteries, another squadron of jet fighters and added surveillance
capabilities to the Middle East to shore up the military’s regional
presence in the wake of the attack last weekend on Saudi Arabia’s
petroleum industry, U.S. military officials said. The measures under
consideration also include a commitment to maintaining the presence of
a U.S. aircraft carrier and other warships in the Middle East for the
foreseeable future, the officials said. The extra force would be meant
to show heightened resolve and to bolster defenses following
Saturday’s strikes, and is under consideration as President Trump also
is weighing options for a response to the attack, which U.S. officials
charge was carried out by Iran.”
Syria
Foreign
Policy: Idlib Faces A Fearsome Future: Islamist Rule Or Mass
Murder
“In recent months, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the radical Islamist
group that now controls Idlib—the last redoubt of Syria’s armed
opposition—has shown a growing willingness to compromise. HTS was once
as extreme as they come, with roots in al Qaeda. But with Syrian
leader Bashar al-Assad’s victorious Russian-aided forces bearing down,
and mindful of the collapse of the ultra-hard-line Islamic State, the
group’s leaders are taking a more lenient, pragmatic approach to
enlistment. The rank-and-file composition of the group has also
changed. Through several rounds of infighting with more moderate rebel
groups, HTS absorbed thousands of nonobservant Muslim fighters into
its ranks from the defeated factions. In addition, it welcomed more
moderate fighters who have been displaced from further south—much to
the surprise of some of the new enlistees. “In Damascus I was sure
that HTS are like the Islamic State, that no one smokes among them and
they dress in Islamic garb, but honestly, I didn’t find any of that,”
said one HTS fighter called Mazen, who smokes cigarettes and crops his
beard.”
Voice
Of America: Russia, China Block UN Humanitarian Resolution On Syria’s
Idlib
“Russia and China joined forces Thursday to block adoption of a
U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at establishing a cease-fire in
northwestern Syria and gaining full access for humanitarian workers to
the province of Idlib. The two veto-wielding powers blocked the text
put forward by drafters Belgium, Germany and Kuwait, who hold the
Syria humanitarian file on the Security Council. “We remain convinced
that the council cannot stay silent and must act,” German Ambassador
Christoph Heusgen said. "That is why we have tabled this humanitarian
resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities.” But Russia said
the text was “doomed to failure” and ignored the need for fighting
terrorists. Thursday’s veto was its 13th on Syria since the conflict
began in 2011."
Al
Jazeera: Russia Blasted At UN For 'Carpet Bombing'
Syria
“Russia and China nixed a draft UN Security Council resolution on
Thursday that called for a truce in northwest Syria, where government
forces seek to overtake the last rebel stronghold in the country's
brutal civil war. The double-veto marked the thirteenth time Moscow
blocked UN action on Syria, and the seventh time for Beijing, in an
eight-year conflict that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives
and divided world powers. The document, drafted by Kuwait, Belgium and
Germany, called for a ceasefire in the northwestern province of Idlib
by midday on September 21 and a halt to an aerial bombing campaign
that has killed civilians and medical staff and destroyed hospitals.
Equatorial Guinea, which holds a two-year council seat, abstained and
the remaining 12 members of the body voted in favour. Voting against
the document, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's UN ambassador, said the text
did not include a carve-out for military operations against
UN-designated "extremist" groups.”
Voice
Of America: Living In The Crossroads Of Syria
“A quiet strip of land in northern Syria hosts some of the world’s
strongest powers and bitterest enemies. Russian, American, Turkish,
Syrian and Kurdish flags fly in the countryside while troops on both
sides of the newly established and hotly contested “safe zone” along
the Turkish border try to keep the peace. Inside the nearby city of
Manbij, locals mostly will not say who they want to be in charge. In
the eight years since the Syrian Civil war began, the city has been
controlled by four different groups, each overthrowing the last. “We
try to be adaptable and live with anyone,” says 33-year-old Jamal
Haji, an unemployed engineer, in a crowded indoor marketplace. “We
don’t want violence. You cannot find anyone in Syria who hasn’t lost
someone to the war.” ‘Safe zone’ Both the Syrian and Turkish
governments have said they intend to take over Manbij, which is
currently controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that are
allied with the United States.”
Iran
The
New York Times: Iran’s Foreign Minister Vows ‘All-Out War’ If U.S. Or
Saudis Strike
“A military strike against Iran by the United States or Saudi
Arabia would result in “an all-out war,” the Iranian foreign minister,
Mohammad Javad Zarif, said on Thursday, repeating his government’s
denial of responsibility for an attack last week that damaged Saudi
oil facilities and hampered the global flow of oil. The Houthi rebels
in Yemen, who are supported by Iran in their fight against a Saudi-led
coalition, claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, but top
American officials blamed Iran, and some within the Trump
administration are advocating military retaliation. The administration
is still weighing how to react, but President Trump has
appeared reluctant to order military action. Asked on Thursday about
Mr. Zarif’s comments, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Mr.
Trump wanted to find a peaceful path forward. “We’d like a peaceful
resolution, indeed,” he told reporters traveling with him in the
United Arab Emirates before flying back to Washington after a two-day
emergency trip. “We’re still striving to build out a coalition. I was
here in an act of diplomacy while the foreign minister of Iran is
threatening all-out war to fight to the last American.”
The
New Yorker: Iran Entrenches Its “Axis Of Resistance” Across The Middle
East
“Spy Mountain, the moniker for Mt. Avital, rises high on the
Biblical Golan Heights. Surveillance antennas are conspicuous atop a
heavily fortified installation. It’s Israel’s forward observation post
peering into Syria; it’s also now the place from which Israel monitors
Iran and its allies on the other side of the border. Roughly a
kilometre away, on the Syrian side, is Sleeping Elephant Hill,
nicknamed for its shape. In 2012, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its
Hezbollah allies set up a signals-intelligence post on the hill to
monitor Israel. In 2015, they attempted to set up a more robust
military presence nearby. An Israeli air strike took out their
reconnaissance team, including the Revolutionary Guard general
Mohammad Ali Allah-Dadi and Jihad Mughniyah, the Iranian-trained son
of Imad Mughniyah, the assassinated first military commander of
Hezbollah. As it usually does, Iran temporarily stepped back,
regrouped, and modified its tactics. In 2016, the Revolutionary Guard
started shipping kits to convert short-range rockets into longer-range
missiles, with precision guidance systems capable of hitting strategic
targets in Israel, from an electricity grid to an airport or a
desalination plant. “That’s what’s called a game-changer,” Uzi Rubin,
the former head of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization, told me.
“They converted a weapon of terror into a military weapon for war.
They’d only need two hundred to stop Israel’s ability to wage its own
war.”
Iraq
Xinhua:
Iraqi Forces Conduct 2 Airdrop Operations To Combat IS
Militants
“Iraqi security forces conducted on Thursday two airdrop operations
in western and southern Iraq, capturing one Islamic State (IS)
militant and destroying two IS hideouts. In the western Anbar
province, a joint force from the Iraqi army and tactical units of the
provincial police conducted an airdrop operation in the Jalabat desert
area, destroying two IS hideouts stashing weapons and ammunition, a
statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC)
said. Also in the province, a force from Anbar's Operations Command
carried out an operation in a desert area, destroying an IS vehicle
and capturing a wanted IS militant, the JOC statement added, without
providing further details. The JOC said in another statement that a
force from the intelligence service, in coordination with the Iraqi
army's aircraft ,conducted an airdrop operation In the area of Hawr
al-Dulmouj, which is situated between the southern cities of
al-Diwaniyah, al-Kut and al-Nasiriyah. The operation resulted in
seizing caches of weapons and ammunition containing assault rifles,
anti-armor missiles and different kinds of other weapons, the
statement said.”
Xinhua:
UN Team To Cooperate In Probe Into IS Crimes In Iraq
“A United Nations team tasked with investigation in crimes
committed by the Islamic State (IS) group stressed the importance of
cooperation with Iraqi authorities for justice of victims, the United
Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement on
Thursday. Karim Khan, head of the UN Investigative Team to Promote
Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh/Islamic State (UNITAD),
visited the central Salahudin province on Monday and met with senior
officials in the provincial capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of
Baghdad, according to the statement. Khan discussed with the officials
“cooperation with Iraqi judicial institutions, including practical
steps in which the Camp Speicher investigations can be deepened with
the assistance of UNITAD,” the statement said. In June 2014, IS
militants carried out an attack on a military air base, known as Camp
Speicher, and committed a massacre when they executed 1,700 Iraqi
soldiers and students of the Air Force academy and threw their bodies
into the Tigris River. In a press conference, Khan emphasized that the
justice UNITAD is helping bring about “is not born from some notion of
collective guilt,” but holds individuals accountable for specific
crimes they committed, according to the statement.”
Afghanistan
The
Washington Examiner: State Department: ISIS Scaring Taliban Into Peace
Talks With US
“Taliban leaders have an interest in negotiating with the United
States because of the risk that an Islamic State offshoot will
establish a caliphate in Afghanistan, according to a senior diplomat.
“I think the Taliban appreciate ... that there is a cost to
Afghanistan’s development [imposed] by the ongoing war,” Alice Wells,
an acting assistant secretary of state, told the House Foreign Affairs
Committee during a Thursday hearing. “And they also see, frankly, the
rise of other terrorist groups who pose a threat to themselves and to
the future of Afghanistan.” ISIS Khorasan is chief among a “vegetable
soup” of terrorist groups that a unified Afghan government could
confront if the Taliban and the U.S.-backed central government ever
strike a peace deal. The ISIS affiliate, named for a historic region
that stretches across multiple modern countries, has coalesced at the
expense of the Taliban, despite an ongoing campaign of airstrikes from
U.S. and NATO forces. “That is a terrorist group that doesn’t
recognize Afghanistan as a nation state,” Wells told lawmakers. “This
is a group that focuses on [a] caliphate and borderless territory
under the organization’s control. That’s a deep threat to all the
people of Afghanistan, including the Taliban.”
Al
Jazeera: Afghanistan: US Confirms Drone Attack That Killed 30
Farmers
“The US forces in Afghanistan have admitted that a drone attack
that killed at least 30 pine nut farmers in Nangarhar province on
Thursday was conducted by them. At least 40 others were injured in the
attack in Wazir Tangi area of Khogyani district that was previously
attributed to the West-backed Afghan government. A spokesman for US
forces in Afghanistan confirmed on Thursday that the drone attack was
conducted by the US with the intention of destroying a hideout used by
the fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or
ISIS) group. "Initial indications are members of Daesh [ISIL] were
among those targeted in the strike," Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman
for the American-led coalition in Afghanistan said. "However, we are
working with local officials to determine whether there was collateral
damage."
Yemen
Xinhua:
4 Killed In Bomb Attack On Passenger Bus In SE Yemen
“A roadside bomb explosion hit a passenger bus in Yemen's
southeastern province of Hadramout on Thursday, leaving four people
killed, a security official told Xinhua. The Yemeni security official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the roadside blast
struck the civilian bus while it was traveling near the Saudi-Yemeni
border post of Wadia in Hadramout province. “An explosive device hit a
traveling bus carrying 46 passengers near the Wadia crossing, killing
four passengers and injuring 21 others, six of them seriously,” the
source added. The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was apparently
planted to target a military convoy of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition
that passed later through the same road, according to the official.
Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb blast struck a military patrol of
the Saudi-led coalition forces in the historic town of Shibam in
Hadramout province that's controlled by Yemeni government forces. A
Yemeni official based in Hadramout confirmed to Xinhua that the blast
killed a Saudi army commander named as Abu Nawaf along with five of
his bodyguards. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the
attacks in Hadramout. But militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch
are active in the region and often use roadside bombs to target
government officials as well as Yemeni security forces.”
Saudi Arabia
Arab
News: Saudi Arabia To UN: Aramco Strikes Were ‘Organized Terrorist
Attack’
“Saudi Arabia said that Saturday’s strikes on two Aramco facilities
were an “organized terrorist attack” in a letter to the UN Security
Council. The Saudi Mission to the United Nations sent a letter to UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and another to the President of the
Security Council Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily
Nebenzya and members of the Security Council on Wednesday. The letters
stated that “all indications are that the weapons used in the Aramco
attack are Iranian.” They also explained that Saudi Arabia will take
measures to respond to the attacks in accordance with international
law, and called on the UN and international experts to participate in
the investigation into the attack.”
The
New York Times: Attack On Saudi Oil Facilities Tests U.S. Guarantee To
Defend Gulf
“The oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf have relied for
decades on the promise of protection by the United States military, a
commitment sealed by the rollback of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and
reinforced by a half dozen American military bases that sprang up
around the region. Now that commitment is facing its most serious test
since the first gulf war: an attack last Saturday by a swarm of at
least 17 missiles and drones that crippled Saudi Arabia’s most
critical oil installation and temporarily knocked out 5 percent of the
world’s oil supply. Washington and Riyadh blamed Iran, despite its
denials, and President Trump threatened that the United States was
“locked and loaded.” Yet despite months of such bravado, Mr. Trump has
been hesitant to take military action that might risk an expanded
conflagration. For better or worse, such a muted response could signal
another turning point for the region.”
Lebanon
Asharq
Al-Awsat: Lebanon Concerned Over Possible Hezbollah Engagement In
Regional War
“The Lebanese are watching with great concern the developments in
the region, most notably the attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil plants, the
purported Iranian involvement and its serious repercussions. The
recent events have brought back to their mind a speech by Hezbollah
Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, when he put himself at the
disposal of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and stressed that any
military strike against Iran “will ignite the whole region and
annihilate countries and peoples.” Amid the dangerous local and
regional developments, the Lebanese State has kept silence about the
possibility of Lebanon’s involvement in a regional war, while no
official stance was issued by President Michel Aoun or his political
team, the Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah’s main ally. In this
regard, the coordinator of the General Secretariat of the March 14
Forces, former MP Fares Soueid, said he was not surprised at Aoun’s
silence over the risks facing Lebanon due to Nasrallah’s
comments.”
Middle East
The
Jerusalem Post: What Do You Make Of Qatar?
“Qatar – dubbed “the wild card of the Middle East” – makes for an
intriguing case study. Not much is generally known about this
stand-alone Gulf state except perhaps that it established what is now
a global media empire called Al Jazeera, that its national airline is
a long-time sponsor of the Sky News TV channel, and that it won the
hosting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in somewhat dubious
circumstances, On that matter it should be remembered that when Qatar
was awarded that prize, it stated that Israeli players would be
allowed to compete – and indeed in March 2019, Israel’s national
anthem was played in Qatar after an Israeli athlete won a gold medal
at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup. But will there be any Israelis
present in Qatar’s stunning new stadium in 2022 to cheer their team
on? That is still unclear. So far, Israeli citizens have been unable
to apply for visas to visit Qatar. The international NGO StandWithUs
is formally requesting FIFA to ensure that the Qatari government will
allow Israeli citizens to receive entry visas into the country to
attend the 2022 World Cup. FIFA’s code of ethics specifically
prohibits banning people based upon their country of origin.”
Nigeria
Xinhua:
Boko Haram Terrorists Flee Amid Regional Troop's Offensive: Nigerian
Army
“Boko Haram terrorists are fleeing out of their hideout around Lake
Chad to north and central Africa sub-regions amid the all-out
offensive by multinational force, the Nigerian army said Thursday. The
combined onslaught by the troops of Nigerian army and Multinational
Joint Task Force (MNJTF) on the identified Boko Haram hideouts was
responsible for their exodus, Sagir Musa, the army spokesperson said
in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos. He said there were credible
reports indicating massive movements of the terror group militants out
of the area. “This mass movement for their lives was necessitated by
the sustained air and artillery bombardments by the Nigerian armed
forces and coalition forces of the MNJTF, which killed uncountable
number of the terrorists and destroyed their weapons and equipment,”
he said. The army spokesperson said the various national troops and
the MNJTF were maintaining aggressive patrols and blocking positions
against infiltration by the escaping criminals. Boko Haram has been
trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern
Nigeria, having killed some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of
millions of others.”
Xinhua:
At Least 9 Killed In Suspected Boko Haram Attack In NE
Nigeria
“At least 9 people have been killed in an attack suspected to have
been carried out by terror group Boko Haram in a village in Nigeria's
northeast region. Military sources who confirmed the attack said it
occurred late Wednesday in Aljilati Ngomari village near Maiduguri,
the capital of the northern state of Borno and stronghold of the
outlawed group. Four of the victims were killed with bow and arrows
while five others were hacked to death with machetes, a military
source, who requested anonymity, told Xinhua. Lukman Rufai, a leader
of the government-backed militia group, the Civilian Joint Task Force,
said bodies of the victims were, thereafter, dumped in a nearby bush.
“Such silent killing tactics of using the bow and arrows, as well as
machetes or knives, were likely deployed by the militants to prevent
the people in the community from knowing what was happening at the
time of the attack,” said Rufai. Bodies of the victims were brought
back to the village early Thursday, set for burial, he said. The
northeast region of the most populous African country has been
destabilized for over a decade by Boko Haram, which kidnapped hundreds
of schoolgirls in 2014.”
Somalia
Al
Jazeera: Somalia: About 5,000 Sufi Fighters Join Army
“In central Somalia, about 5,000 Sufi fighters are signing up to
join the national army. In a surprise move two months ago, the group
decided to have its fighters integrated. So far, they are the only
local group to go up against al-Shabab fighters and win. Sufism is a
mystical branch of Islam and has been widely practised in Somalia
before the advent of Salafism in the country following the civil war
that broke out in 1991. Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reports from
Dusamareb.”
Africa
All
Africa: West Africa: Terrorist Attacks In West Africa - 11,400 Die In
4 Years ... Thousands Injured, Millions Displaced
“About 11, 400 people have died in 2,200 terrorist attacks in West
Africa in the last four years, with thousands injured and millions
displaced into grave living conditions. Director of Defence
Intelligence of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Brigadier General
Nicholas Andoh who disclosed this in Accra yesterday said the
activities of violent and extremist armed groups (VEAG) have increased
in the region. At the opening of a two-day meeting of West and North
African directors of military intelligence, he said limited
collaboration amongst intelligence agencies had restricted efforts to
rein in on the groups. Numbering more than 100, the high ranking
military officers, drawn from 17 countries and their global partners,
have converged for the first time, to devise a robust joint strategy
to combat the scourge of terror threats. The meeting was organised by
the Department of Defence Intelligence and United States African
Command in collaboration with GAF on the theme “Intelligence Support
to operations to combating regional threats”, Brigadier General Andoh
said the whole continent was saddled with complex transnational crimes
committed both in the physical and cyber domain with far reaching
implications for everyone.”
United Kingdom
The
Economist: How Britain Exports Islamist Extremism To
Bangladesh
“Since the first wave of Bangladeshi migrants arrived in Britain in
the 1970s, foreign-born preachers have held sway in the community. For
a while the most visible consequence to outsiders was when Bangladeshi
restaurants stopped selling alcohol, after conservative clerics such
as Delwar Hossain Sayeedi came to preach temperance to the diaspora in
the 1990s (some curry houses found a theological loophole in the form
of “bring your own booze”). Recent years have seen more serious
worries about the influence of foreign extremists. In February Shamima
Begum, an east-London schoolgirl, was stripped of her British
citizenship after running away to join Islamic State (is) in Syria.
Yet in Dhaka, amid a rising tempo of terrorist attacks, officials are
asking who is radicalising whom. Bangladesh’s government often blames
outsiders for its problem with radical Islam. But here it has a point.
British citizens have been implicated in the planning, funding and
promotion of terrorism in Bangladesh, to the alarm of the country’s
security services. “We do not know what is driving radicalisation in
Britain,” says a senior officer in Bangladesh’s Counter-Terrorism
Intelligence Bureau, “but it is contaminating our society.”
The
Guardian: Rise Of The Far Right: A Disturbing Mix Of Hateful
Ideologies
“On Thursday, senior counter-terror police officers provided a rare
insight into the threat from extreme-right terrorism as they see it,
revealing the scale of the problem and some of the motives behind its
rise. Their assessment of the threat reveals a disturbing mix of
hateful ideologies and grievances, which are inspiring disenfranchised
lone actors to plot and in some cases commit acts of far-right
terrorism. Rightwing terrorism now takes up around 10% of
counter-terrorism policing’s 800 live investigations, up from around
6% in 2017/18, with around a quarter of all counter-terror related
arrests linked to the far right. Since March 2017, police and security
services have foiled 22 terror attack plots, with around a third –
seven in total – relating to rightwing terrorism. And rightwing
ideology was behind 18% of referrals to the government’s
anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, in the year to March 2018, up
from 10% in the year to March 2016. Counter-terror officers said the
rightwing terrorists are being inspired by three distinct sets of
ideology, all of which have associated individuals and groups.
Cultural nationalism and the far-right is anti-Islam, anti-immigration
and anti-government.”
France
Express:
France Terror Threat: Warning Issued As ‘Homegrown Jihadis’ Remain
Huge Concern
“However, M Nuñez warned the threat “has not diminished”. He told
FranceInfo radio: “Unfortunately, the threat level remains unchanged.”
The UK Foreign Office has also warned “terrorists are very likely to
try to carry out attacks in France”. M Nuñez said “homegrown”
jihadists inspired by the Islamic State (Isis) group’s ideology
remained the biggest security threat to France, stoking fresh concerns
over the organisation’s ability to wield influence even after its
territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria. “The greatest threat is the
so-called homegrown threat by radicalised individuals based in France.
These are people who obey ISIS and are inspired by its propaganda,” he
said, adding that would-be jihadists were most likely to launch
low-tech knife and vehicle attacks. US-backed forces pushed Isis out
its remaining territory in March. Hundreds of foreign fighters are now
being held in detention camps while western governments try and work
out what to do with them. France has so far refused to take back
citizens who joined the group’s so-called “caliphate,” insisting
adults captured in Iraq or Syria should face trial locally despite the
risk of capital punishment. M Nuñez added western states should
“remain prudent” amid claims Isis has strengthened its insurgent
capabilities in Iraq and is re-surging in Syria. It is crucial for
western governments to “track” their movements, he said.”
Europe
BBC
News: Interpol Detects Foreign Terror Suspects In
Mediterranean
“Interpol says it has detected more than a dozen suspected “foreign
terrorist fighters” crossing the Mediterranean Sea during a six-week
operation. The international police organisation carried out more than
1.2 million searches at ports in six countries between 24 July and 8
September. Operation Neptune II focussed on busy tourist routes
between North Africa and southern Europe. It resulted in 31 active
investigative leads, Interpol says. In a separate development, France
and Italy called for a new system to automatically redistribute
migrants across the EU as the number of people entering Europe surged.
The current system, French President Emmanuel Macron said, was
particularly unfair on Italy. Only this week, hundreds of migrants
arrived in Italy and Greece, many travelling by boat from Libya and
Turkey. During the operation Interpol used its vast database to look
for signs of illegal activity such as stolen travel documents and
vehicles. Officials from Algeria, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain and
Tunisia carried out the searches at seven ports in the area. “When
information is shared between regions via Interpol's networks at the
global level, every check, border control or random search is a
potential break in a terror investigation,” said Interpol's Secretary
General Jürgen Stock.”
Globsec:
Pathways To Jihad - Counter Extremism Project
“In 2019, Globsec studied the biographies of more than 300 Western
European jihadis. In cooperation with the Counter Extremism Project,
the report, Pathways to Jihad, details the pathways and patterns of
individual jihadists towards their terrorism involvement.”
China
The
Washington Post: For China’s Embattled Uighurs, A Bank Transfer Abroad
Can Become A ‘Terrorism’ Ordeal
“The Chinese state has come down not once, but twice, on Mayila
Yakufu. First, the 41-year-old insurance company worker was taken
away for 10 months of “vocational training” in one of the internment
camps China has set up in the mostly-Muslim Xinjiang region as part of
an extensive campaign to strip the Uighur minority of its culture and
language. She was out for barely four months before the authorities
picked her up again — this time for financing terrorism. Now, the
single mother of three is in a prison for criminals, serving a
sentence of unknown length. “They are targeting us like the Nazi
government targeted the Jews,” said Mayila’s cousin, Nyrola Elima, who
lives in Sweden. “We just want to be able to live a normal life.” The
Chinese campaign to forcibly assimilate the mostly-Muslim Uighur
minority, whose culture and language is Turkic, into the Han ethnic
majority is showing signs of entering a new phase. Uighurs living
abroad have started to hear reports of family members being arrested
and jailed on suspicion of financing terrorism after sending money to
relatives abroad. Those relatives have also had their savings and
assets confiscated by the state, they say.”
Technology
The
Wall Street Journal: Zuckerberg Meets With Trump, Faces Tough
Questions From Senators
“With his company under a regulatory spotlight, Facebook Inc. Chief
Executive Mark Zuckerberg scored a meeting at the White House with
President Trump Thursday—but faced a chillier reception from lawmakers
on Capitol Hill. A spokesman for Facebook said Mr. Zuckerberg was
visiting Washington to meet with policy makers “to hear their concerns
and talk about future internet regulation.” The spokesman said Mr.
Zuckerberg’s meeting with the president was “constructive.” Jared
Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and White
House social media director Dan Scavino also joined the meeting, a
person familiar with the meeting said. “Nice meeting with Mark
Zuckerberg of Facebook in the Oval Office today,” Mr. Trump posted
Thursday night on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, along with a
photo of the president and Mr. Zuckerberg shaking hands.”
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